A Little Child Shall Lead Them
by lia-finn
Summary: Sam makes one of the hardest choices of her life only to find that God has a way of changing life's plans. JS
1. Default Chapter

Title: A Little Child Shall Lead Them  
  
Author: Lia  
  
Classification: A, R  
  
Rating: PG (only a few bad words though)  
  
Pairing: Jack/Sam, some Daniel/Janet  
  
Spoilers: None, but got the idea after watching The Fifth Man again.  
  
Summary: Sam makes one of the hardest choices of her life; only to find that God has a way of changing life's plans.  
  
Disclaimers: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
Author´s Note: Thank you Pat for beta and all the help with everything. You should know that I am not completely okay with the fact that Janet died. Like her too much to accept that! So she´s in this story, and with Daniel! English is not my first language, just thought you should know. Feedback´s much wanted and much appreciated. Enjoy the story!  
  
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It was still dark, the pale moon peeking through the clouds of the dark sky, the light rain tapping against the windows. She opened her eyes slowly, staring the roof for a short moment before sleepily turning her head to look at the man next to her. He was sleeping on his side, an arm wrapped protectively around her stomach, his soft breathing gently caressing her cheek.  
  
Carefully she rolled on her side and leaving the warmth of the bed she walked into the bathroom and closed the door after her. She turned the lights on, wincing at the brightness before turning the shower on and stepping under hot water. Her muscles were aching, with the scratches and cuts from the previous mission still sore as well. The water soon turned cold and she turned it off, her body shivering with the cold. She dried herself before slipping into his robe.  
  
He was still sleeping when she came back from the bathroom. Walking along the dark hallway she made her way into the kitchen. She leaned against the counter waiting for the aroma of the coffee filling the room. A roar of thunder was heard in a distance and she felt shivers running through her body.  
  
Taking her cup she walked into the dark living room where she curled on the couch, leaning against the soft cushions, fingers wrapped around the steaming cup. She took a sip of her coffee, the hot liquid burning her mouth.  
  
"Damn it." The cursing words escaped her lips.  
  
She placed the cup down on the coffee table and leaned back, wrapping her arms around herself. She couldn´t stop shaking. Her eyes fell closed, but the sleep didn´t come. And she didn´t expect it to. Not anymore.  
  
"Sam?" Jack asked softly from the doorway, his voice still hoarse with sleep.  
  
"What are you doing up?" She stood up and walked to him, wrapping her arm around his waist for a support. "You need to stay in bed."  
  
He didn´t object as she guided him back to the bedroom; he was still weak. She lowered him on the bed, gently helping him lay down against the soft pillows, her hand stroking gently across his face.  
  
"Go back to sleep." She whispered softly.  
  
"You too." He murmured sleepily.  
  
She stood up and untied the robe, letting it fall on the floor. Crawling under the warm covers into his arms, she pressed her body against him, needing to feel him close. She lay her head on his chest, her silent tears wetting his tee-shirt. His breathing was calm, the pain medication allowing him to have the rest that his body needed to recover. She stayed awake for a long time, quietly crying until there was no more tears left.  
  
She had made her decision. And it broke her heart.  
  
Just before the morning sun slowly crept on the grey sky, she let his steady heartbeat lull her into a dreamless sleep.  
  
End of Part 1 


	2. Part II

Thank you guys, for all the reviews. You´re the best!

-Lia

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She woke up some hours later, hearing the thunder crashing further. For a moment she lay still, knowing that leaving the bed would mean the end, and she wasn´t ready for that. Not just yet. She felt him stirring from the sleep; his breathing changing, a gentle hand moving lazily up and down on her back.  
  
"Morning." He murmured softly against her hair.  
  
"Hey." She replied as softly, tears filling her eyes again.  
  
She knew he had felt her tense, heard the sadness in her voice. Slowly she pulled away from his arms, avoiding looking at him as she slipped from the bed. She knew he watched her as she moved around the bedroom, gathering her clothes from the floor where he had tossed them the previous night.  
  
"What´s wrong?" He sat up on the bed, grimacing as his bare feet touched the cold wooden floor. "Sam?"  
  
She stopped in the middle of the floor, her back turned to him. "I can´t do this anymore." She whispered quietly. "I´m sorry."  
  
"Can´t do what?" He asked and stood up, a small moan of pain escaping his lips.  
  
"Jack, lay back down." She helped him back lay down on the bed. "We´ll talk about this later."  
  
He grabbed her hand. "Don´t go."  
  
She looked away, fighting against the tears that threatened to fall. "I have to." Her whisper was barely audible.  
  
"I don´t understand." He said softly.  
  
"I love you, Jack." She pulled her hand free from his gentle grasp. "I love you so much it hurts. But I just don´t have the strength to live like this."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"God, you don´t have a clue what..." She closed her eyes, giving up to the tears. His face darkened as he watched her cry, tears obviously because of him. "I am just too tired to worry, to be afraid if I will ever see you alive anymore."  
  
"It´s the risk we take everytime we step through the gate." He said quietly.  
  
"I know that, and I accept that. But hearing you order me leave you behind, that I cannot"  
  
"Sam, please stay."  
  
"I´m sorry, I have to go." She shook her head sadly.  
  
"Then at least come back tonight and we talk about this." He asked softly.  
  
"I am going to see my dad for a while. I don´t know for how long I´ll be gone."  
  
"And when did you decide this?" His words were harsh, and he hated himself for that.  
  
"Last night." She replied quietly.  
  
"Before or after our love making?"  
  
"Jack stop it. I need this time alone." Her voice was shaking. "I just can´t go on like this." She leaned down to stroke his face, her palms cupping his cheeks gently. "I do love you. I always have, and I always will. Never doubt that." She whispered softly before gently brushing his lips with hers.  
  
She walked out from the room, her heart broken because of the man she loved more than the life itself. Because of the man she knew loved her more than anything. Because she could not live with the fear of losing him. And walking out of that bedroom, she was afraid she had just done that.  
  
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General Hammond shared a worried glance with Jacob Carter as they watched the two officers hugging tightly each other.  
  
"You take care of yourself." Janet whispered into her best friend´s ear.  
  
"I will." Sam replied with a soft voice. "I´m gonna miss you."  
  
"Me too."  
  
"Hey, we'll visit, and you'll come back in no time." Daniel said smiling from Janet´s side, brushing his hand across the doctor´s back for the silent support before wrapping his arms around Sam. "We´ll take care of him." He promised.  
  
She hugged him little tighter, and he placed a kiss on the side of her forehead before letting her go. "I just wish he could understand." She said quietly.  
  
"He will." Daniel said, brushing back a lock of blonde hair from her face. "Don´t you worry about him. Teal´c and I are here looking after him, aren´t we Teal´c?"  
  
"Indeed, MajorCarter." The Jaffa said, a soft smile creeping upon his normally stoic face as Sam wrapped her arms around him, leaning against his broad chest.  
  
"Sam." Jacob said softly. "It´s time to go."  
  
She stepped back from Teal´c´s embrace and glanced at her father. "Let´s go."  
  
"Major Carter." General Hammond called.  
  
"Yes, sir?"  
  
"I meant what I said earlier. When you return, you are still a member of SG- 1."  
  
"Thank you, sir." She said, her love and respect for him reflecting from her eyes. Hours before she had stood in his office, asking permission to go with the Tok´ra, trusting him with her heart and telling about her fears. He had been opposed to her decision, not wanting her to run away her problems, but after seeing the desperate look on her face he had contacted Jacob.  
  
Jacob placed his hand on the small of her back, nodding to those who were left behind, as promising he would take care of her for them. He guided her through the gate into the planet that bathed on the sunlight, and she leaned heavily against her father.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her, and a heavy sigh escaped from her lips, but she didn´t give up to the tears. She didn´t cry. She pulled away, smiling tiredly.  
  
"Thanks dad." She said, trying to hide the sadness in her voice, and failing miserably.  
  
And at that moment, Jacob hated Jack O´Neill.  
  
"Come on, we have a long flight ahead." He said taking her bags and nodding toward the ship waiting for them.  
  
She followed him to the ship, glancing over her shoulder to the gate, the sadness reflecting from her face, and Jacob sighed.  
  
"Sam, are you sure about this?"  
  
She nodded, knowing her father would know she was lying. She wasn´t sure. She wasn´t sure about anything anymore. So she just nodded again.  
  
"Sam..." Jacob started softly.  
  
"Dad, no." She interrupted him. "Don´t say it. Can we just leave?"  
  
He nodded and followed her inside, hoping her decision was right.  
  
End of Part II


	3. Part III

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"Oh for crying out loud!" The familiar shout made Daniel took off his glasses and place the book he had been reading on the table.  
  
Days had changed to weeks, weeks slowly to months and she had not yet returned. The first days after her leaving had been the worse, with Jack being forced to stay in bed because of his wounds. The only company he had allowed to stay with him had been a stubborn teenage girl. Cassandra had ignored his orders to leave him alone completely, sitting on his bedside at his home, reading out loud the books he had hated.  
  
"I promised to Sam." She told her mother.  
  
A week later he returned back to work. And two weeks later he was laying in the infirmary wounded, again, right next to Daniel. And this time he was going to stay there, and not released under Sam Carter´s care.  
  
Two weeks had passed since that.  
  
"That´s it." Jack said from the doorway. "I´m going to get her home."  
  
"Jack." Daniel said slowly, studying at his friend´s face. He looked tired, frustrated, and he missed her like hell.  
  
"You´re gonna tell me where she is?"  
  
"I´m not sure."  
  
"Danny, I miss her. I... I want her back." Jack lifted his hands to rub his tired face. "I´m going to lose it, I can´t sleep, I... I´m driving everybody crazy... I just want her back."  
  
"I don´t know where she is." Daniel said softly. "I wish I did, but I don´t."  
  
"Then who does? Somebody must know. We have contacted them before, why can´t we now?"  
  
"Because Jacob didn´t take her to be with the Tok´ra. He took her away from here, away from work, away from you."  
  
"I know." Jack said quietly.  
  
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Jack sat on the bed in the infirmary, glaring at the nurse who cleaned his wounds. He felt the worried eyes of Janet Frasier on his back, knowing there would be a lecture and a painful shot waiting for him, and not necessarily in that order.  
  
"Colonel," Janet started softly as the nurse finished with him and left them alone. "Sixth time in this month."  
  
"Yeah, you know me, Doc." He moved his arm, grimacing as the pain shot through his upper body.  
  
"I do know you, Jack, and I am getting worried." She said quietly. "What should I do with you?"  
  
"Hey, this time it wasn´t my fault... not entirely anyway."  
  
"I´m not talking about this, I am talking about Sam." Janet said and reached to help him with the buttons of his shirt.  
  
"I know what you are talking about." The tone of his voice was quiet, almost sad.  
  
"She will come back, she just needs her time."  
  
"Yeah, well, she has been gone for four months now. You´d think she´d have had her time by now." He regret the harshness of his words. "I´m sorry, I´m just tired."  
  
"That´s understandable." She turned to take the injection from the tray, biting her lower lip to hold back a chuckle as she watched him leaning back a little.  
  
He glared at her as her lips curved into a smile and she wiped his arm before sticking the needle in. It hurt, and he was sure she did it on purpose.  
  
"Now, you lay down at least for an hour, and Colonel, if I see you out of that bed even a second earlier, so help me god..."  
  
"Yes, ma´am."He saluted before lying back against the soft pillows.  
  
End of Part III 


	4. Part IV

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It was three weeks later when Daniel Jackson stood in the gate room, watching as the iris slid open. A wide grin on his lips he watched her stepping through the gate and slowly walking down the ramp.  
  
"Sam!" He grinned and wrapped his arms around her. "God it´s good to see you."  
  
She leaned against him, sighing happily at the feeling of his arms around her. He backed away to look at her, his eyes widening as he saw her rounded belly. She laid her hand against her stomach a soft smile on her lips. "Surpise." She said softly.  
  
"Indeed." Daniel said with a perfect Teal´c imitation and she grinned like he had expected her to.  
  
"Welcome home, major." The familiar voice said behind them and she turned around.  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
Hammond´s gaze fell to her swollen belly, before his eyes met hers. "Well, this is a surprise."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
The old general chuckled softly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked away from the gate room. "It´s good to have you back, Sam. God knows there´s one who had driven us all crazy while you were gone."  
  
She lowered her eyes, but not fast enough. The general and Daniel shared a worried glance at the sad look on her face.  
  
"Go down to the infirmary, I´m sure doctor Fraiser wants to see you. Then come back to see me, I believe we have lots to talk about." The general continued softly.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
He turned to leave, only to be stopped by her soft voice. "Thank you, Sir. It´s good to be home." She whispered as she wrapped her around his neck.

"Hormones." Daniel shrugged, and the general smiled.   
  
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She lay on her bed, listening the familiar sounds of the base. Only now she realized how much she had missed everything. The kick against her side made her smile, and she smoothed her hand over her belly, as if to calm to the unborn child.  
  
"It´s really good to be back." She said softly.  
  
"It´s really good to have you back." Janet replied smiling from the couch she was sitting. "We missed you."  
  
Sam sighed softly, she was tired. She wanted to ask about him, but she couldn´t find the words. "So, how´s Cassie?" She asked instead.  
  
"Sixteen." Janet smiled. "She missed you. And she will be thrilled about the baby. Jack will be too." She added softly. "He hasn´t been a happy camper lately."  
  
"That bad?" Sam asked quietly, her hand running along her stomach once more.  
  
Janet tilted her head to the side, her eyes saddening because of the pained look on her friend´s face. "Yeah. He missed you Sam."  
  
"I know." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I just couldn´t..."  
  
"I know, Sam. And I know he knows too. But you left him for five months." Janet said softly. "And you left so fast, you didn´t give him a chance..."  
  
She was interrupted by a knock coming from the door. "It´s probably Daniel." Janet stood up and opened the door. A soft smile crept on her lips as she saw the archeologist leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed across his chest.  
  
"Hey." He said quietly.  
  
Sam watched them from across the room, and smiled. Their voices were too quiet for her to hear, but she understood it now. He leaned forward to say something, and she placed her hand against his chest, it was the gesture that was so much more than a friendly touch. Her two best friends had fallen in love.  
  
"Jack´s here." Daniel nodded down to the hallway.  
  
Janet looked to where Jack O´Neill leaned against the wall, hands tucked deep in his pockets, eyes staring the floor. She sighed at the sad look on his face. It was the same look he had worn for five months.  
  
"Sam." Janet turned to look at her friend. "Jack´s here."  
  
Sam Carter wanted to shook her head, tell them she didn´t want to see him, that she wasn´t ready. But she couldn´t. She longed to see him. So she nodded, and Janet reached to touch her shoulder, she wanted to tell her that everything would be fine again. But she didn´t know if she would be lying, so she stayed quiet.  
  
End of Part IV


	5. Part V

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He stepped in her quarters closing the door after him. And for a long moment he just stared at her. She looked beautiful. Her hair was longer, but it wasn´t that. She glowed, the way only expectant women did.  
  
He wanted to ask if it was his child, even somehow he knew it was. But he wanted to hurt her. To lash out at her. And yet he couldn´t say the words.  
  
And when his eyes finally met hers, she felt her heart breaking into millions of pieces, because the love and passion for her, for the life itself she had used to seen in there during the years, had been now replaced by hurt, and fear of losing her.  
  
"Jack." Her whisper of his name was an almost desperate plead for his forgiveness.  
  
"Come here." He said, wrapping his arms around her.  
  
And to her, it was truly coming home.  
  
He held her for a long time, not willing to let her go, fearing she would disappear like she had in so many nights when he had dreamt about her. She tightened her hold of him, the baby mound pressing against his stomach, and he pulled back surprised as he felt the baby kicking.  
  
"She does that a lot." Sam said softly.  
  
"She?"  
  
"I have a feeling."  
  
He nodded smiling, his hand coming to rest on her belly, and he felt the baby kicking again.  
  
"I´m so sorry." She whispered, fighting against the tears that threatened to fall.  
  
"I´m sorry too." He took her hands in his own. "I didn´t understand what I was doing to you until it was too late."  
  
"I should have stayed, I should have explained, but..." The lonely tear rolled down on her cheek. "I´m so sorry, Jack."  
  
"It´s okay." He pulled her back into his arms, smoothing the back of her head with his hand.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" She asked quietly, head resting against his shoulder.  
  
"We´ll work this out." He promised. "Things are going to change a little." She knew he was smiling as he thought about the little boy or girl that was growing inside of her.  
  
"Yeah." She pulled back enough to see his face. "And dad´s coming to visit us soon, said something about a long talk he wants to have with you."  
  
He groaned, and she couldn´t held back a smile.  
  
"We´ll be okay, Sam." He said softly.  
  
"I know."  
  
He leaned to her, capturing her lips with his into a soft kiss that was a promise of the future. His hands cupped her face and he deepened the kiss, and a soft sigh of happiness left her lips.  
  
She was home, right there where she belonged.  
  
The End

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Author´s Note: I´m sorry if the ending was too sappy, but after 'No Greater Love' and my new JAG story, I decided that there´s enough angst for a while. And besides, it´s pretty depressing to write you know. And I´m a shipper, and love happy endings myself, most of the time anyway :) And these two deserve some happiness, don´t you think. Thank you all for nice reviews, those are much appreciated.

-Lia


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